BBMP to fine fest vendors dumping garbage in drains

Bengaluru:&nbsp;As the long festival season is beginning soon, concerns have been raised over garbage issue in the city. Major offenders are street vendors, who have a tendency to dump garbage into drains after completing their business on festival days. To stop the menace, the BBMP has now decided to penalise vendors found dumping garbage into the drains and also make them pay the cleaning charges.

Every year, as the festival season begins with the Varamahalakshmi Puja, and goes on till Deepavali, street vendors set up stalls on footpaths on almost all main roads across the city. On the day of the festival, after completing their business, they dump unsold items, like banana leaves, mango leaves, flowers, fruits and other items into nearby drains. The BBMP has issued several warnings over the years, but they have had no effect.

A senior BBMP official told Deccan Chronicle, &quot;We have started cleaning the drains across the city. When street vendors dump garbage into drains, they get choked and cause flooding. We don&#39;t want this to happen and we have asked officials in every zone top keep an eye on these vendors and warn them not to dump waste into the drains.&quot;

He said, &quot;The vendors will be asked to dump garbage at one spot, which makes it easy for pourakarmikas to collect it the next day. Officials will keep a watch on the vendors, so that we will know who dumped waste into the drains. We will penalise them and also ensure that they pay for the cleaning process. This is the first time we have taken the decision and we expect it to create a fear among vendors,&quot; the officer said.

He said that it is time such strict rules are passed to keep the city functioning, otherwise Bengalureans will suffer when it rains.

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